Debenhams demands a little help from its suppliers (again) December 17, 2013 SUPPLIERS to Debenhams got a nasty shock yesterday when the retail giant wrote to them asking for a contribution to the group’s recent investment programme. It’s not the first time they have been asked for extra support. Earlier this year they were asked to extend payment terms from 90 to 120 days. In the latest [...]
Online retailers take £10bn in a bumper November December 16, 2013 ONLINE retailers took over £10bn of sales in November, a new monthly record that raises further fears that high street retailers have been left behind in the key Christmas trading period. Online retail sales jumped by 30 per cent in November compared with the previous month – the highest monthly increase in 10 years. This [...]
No Christmas cheer for struggling high streets December 15, 2013 HIGH street stores are failing to benefit from stronger economic confidence and higher consumer spending in the run up to Christmas, with footfall below last year’s level. According to worrying figures released this morning by Springboard and the British Retail Consortium (BRC), high street footfall this November was down 4.2 per cent on the same [...]
London Week Ahead: UK’s Christmas gift of boost to GDP and jobs December 15, 2013 FURTHER evidence that the recovery is gaining traction is expected this week with inflation figures and the release of the employment rate, which may top 30m for the first time ever. While the inflation rate, measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), is forecast to remain at 2.2 per cent – the lowest since September [...]
Why higher education is this country’s secret industrial powerhouse December 15, 2013 WHEN considering the powerhouses of the British economy, most people’s minds flick to the City, or perhaps pharmaceuticals or retail. Yet it’s British universities – the envy of the world – which have the potential to save the British economy. Higher education is the UK’s secret industrial powerhouse. UniversitiesUK suggests that our universities are responsible [...]
Forget a Bitcoin bubble: A wider crypto revolt is challenging everything | City A.M. December 13, 2013 FOR ALL the talk of a Bitcoin bubble, it’s easy to miss the real significance of what is currently happening. The rise of Bitcoin is just the beginning. Cryptocurrencies are no longer the domain of activists and grassroots movements, they are nothing less than “new money”. Many are waiting for the moment when a central [...]
Win talk from South Pole team December 12, 2013 PRINCE Harry and his team are due to arrive at the South Pole this afternoon having braved the Antarctic extremes to raise money for Walking With The Wounded. But the push to support ex-servicemen and women doesn’t end there. The charity is calling for City workers to do their bit by signing up to Walking [...]
City Moves for 11 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 10, 2013 Colliers International The real estate services firm has recruited Andrew MacKenzie as a consultant in its retail team. He was most recently chief executive of Jaeger. MacKenzie has previously held senior director positions at Allders, First Restaurant Group and Matisse Holdings. Towry The wealth management firm has hired Mehdi Douali as an analyst in its [...]
Forget a Bitcoin bubble: A wider crypto revolt is challenging everything December 10, 2013 FOR ALL the talk of a Bitcoin bubble, it’s easy to miss the real significance of what is currently happening. The rise of Bitcoin is just the beginning. Cryptocurrencies are no longer the domain of activists and grassroots movements, they are nothing less than “new money”. Many are waiting for the moment when a central [...]
Kentz’s shares surge on £266m US acquisition December 9, 2013 ENGINEERING firm Kentz saw its share price soar by nearly 13 per cent yesterday after it unveiled a $435m (£265.6m) acquisition of US firm Valerus. Kentz, which was the subject of a failed takeover approach earlier this year, had long said it wanted to grow its engineering arm in order to bid for more engineering, [...]